A STRUGGLING school is set to be rescued from closure by a pioneering plan to hand it over to the community and local business.

Manchester city council today approved the revolutionary plan to save Ducie High, in Moss Side.

The school will be relaunched as one of the government’s new ‘‘city academies’’ - subject to Whitehall approval.

Academy status will bring a £1.2m injection of public and private cash and take the school out of the control of the local education authority.

In January the Manchester Evening News revealed how the school was facing a financial crisis because of its low number of students.

Ducie, which is £500,000 in debt, only has one pupil for every three desks.

Application

The application for Ducie to become a city academy - sponsored by businesses from the Manchester Science Park - has been lodged with the Department for Education and Skills.

If the plan is approved by Whitehall the school will be funded by the government and run independently by a charitable trust.

Universities are expected to play key roles at the school and it is hoped this may encourage youngsters to stay on after they reach 16.

The scheme has received a positive response from the Department for Education and Skills. Architects are expected to visit the site next week and the government could give the go-ahead by the end of July.

Future

If the application fails the future of the 900-place school will have to be reconsidered.

Headteacher Ray Kirby said: ‘‘We are hoping it will be the kind of institution that will raise achievement in school and raise the prospects of attainment.

‘‘Better facilities will help, as will the greater involvement of businesses and the community. The curriculum will have an emphasis on science and the importance of science in the community.’’

Trevor Rees, chair of governors at Ducie, said city academy status was ‘‘absolutely fundamental’’ to the future of the school.

He said: ‘‘The only way we can be viable is to do things differently. We are not viable at the moment.’’

Ducie’s finances have suffered because parents in the Moss Side and Hulme areas have chosen to have their children educated at other schools. Poor results, high truancy rates and bad behaviour have made the school unpopular.

Manchester’s chief education officer, David Johnston, said the school’s problems had prompted the council to investigate other ways of running it.

He said: ‘‘We need different ways of looking at how to raise attainment and achievement in the community of Hulme and Moss Side.

‘‘This presents a challenging option; working with business partners, the university and other partners. We need a new beginning.’’

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